“Ha,” Jake retorted.
I clicked the first website and read off the list.
“Make dinner together.” I made a face.
“Well, we’ve done that…”
“We get takeout,” I said. “I kind of made dinner for Coop.”
“Potato skins and mozzarella sticks,” Archie said. “That counts. So big fat check there.”
I laughed. The next one would be a little harder. “Go on a bike ride together.” They meant bicycle, but… “I rode with Ian.”
“Then check,” Jake said, leaning back on the sofa next to me and stretching his legs out.
“Scoot over.” Archie nudged me, and I almost ended up in Jake’s lap, not that he complained. As it was, they pretty much squished me between them. “Okay, what’s next?” He peered at the phone seriously.
“Sing karaoke.”
They burst out laughing, and I shook my head.
“I’m pretty sure since you did that with all of us, we can call that a check, right?” Jake teased.
My face had probably turned a prominent shade of crimson, but I pushed on and just laughed. “I think so, because you’re never getting me up there again.”
“That’s a challenge,” Archie murmured.
“Hmm-hmm.”
I didn’t even have to glance up to know they were plotting something.
“Next,” I said. “Go to a weird museum.”
“Weird museum?” Jake leaned in, and the stubble on his face brushed my cheek. It prickled and a shiver raced through me. “Define weird?”
Archie pulled out his phone. “Weird museums in Texas gets us—the Cockroach Museum.”
“Ewww.” I gaped at him.
“Hey, they dress them up in costumes.” Then at my continued gagging noise, he said, “It says weird museum, this is definitely weird.”
“That’s a hard no,” Jake commented. “What else do they have?”
Still laughing, Archie read off his list, “The Toilet Seat Museum, the guy there will tell you the stories of where they came from.”
“Ugh.” I shuddered. “That’s disgusting.”
“I’m assuming they’re clean,” Archie offered.
“Don’t assume,” Jake suggested, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me back against him.
“Point. Devil’s Rope Barbed Wire Museum.”
“Is that real?” I know the list said weird museum, but why would there be a museum for barbed wire?
“Yup,” Archie assured me, and showed me a picture on his phone. “So is the Salt Palace Museum—not only do they give you the history of salt, the building is made out of salt.”
“That could be kind of cool,” Jake muttered. “Maybe.”
“For kind of cool we have the Art Car Museum or the Garage Mahal as they call it. Oh, the Texas Prison Museum. Hey, we can get a picture taken in a real jail cell. Museum of the Weird—well that should be number one—if shrunken heads are your thing.”
I giggled. “Shrunken heads are not my thing.”
“Good to know,” Jake said, pressing a kiss right behind my ear. I ran a hand over his arm where he had it wrapped against my chest. Archie glanced up from the phone, then met my gaze and smiled.
“National Museum of Funeral History? Nah. Here we go, the Creation Evidence Museum, it’s right next door to Dinosaur Valley State Park.”
Laughter rolled through Jake and shook me as I grinned.
“That brings us down to—the West of Pecos Museum, where they have an actual animatronic bartender.”
“A little too Westworld,” I suggested, and Archie made a face.
“Only if they have the hot saloon chicks, too.” Then he paused and glanced at me. “But we’d have you, so we don’t need their hot chicks.”
“Nice save,” Jake murmured. “Idiot.”
And I laughed.
“Ha!” Archie held up a hand. “Got it—the Munster Mansion in Waxahachie. Look.” He showed us the picture. “These people completely designed the house to be the Munster mansion from the old show.”
That show was ancient, and it used to be on TVLand when we were little.
“What do you think? Which one qualifies for your weird museum date?”
“Yeah?” Jake asked, stroking his fingers lightly against my collarbone. “Which one?”
“Um… maybe we can just—skip the weird museum date.”
“Nope,” he said. “No can do. You wanted the full dating experience. That list says weird museum date, we gotta pick one.”
“You liked the salt one. And Archie likes the Munsters.”
“I like the fact it’s a long drive and I get you alone in a car,” Archie teased, and I rolled my eyes.
“Huh… not if we all go.”
“If we all go, it doesn’t count as a date,” Archie retaliated.
“Karaoke counted,” I pointed out. “So you guys ask Coop and Ian, and I’ll let you four pick, as long as it isn’t toilet seats or roaches.” I shuddered.
“Fair enough,” Jake said. “What’s next?”
I lifted my phone, and there was a message from Ian on it.
Ian: Hey, just checking on you.
I flipped from the webpage to his text message to answer.
I’m okay. With Archie and Jake at Archie’s. Had to get out of apt.
After I hit send, I considered it a moment, then added:
Thank you for asking. Are you okay?
Almost at once, Archie and Jake’s phones buzzed. “Busted,” Jake said, and he eased me forward to pull out his own phone.
There was a group text on his screen, cause it said guys.
And Coop’s name popped up.
Bubba: Sharon didn’t take down pics. No one told me they got Frankie.
Coop: You got Frankie?
Archie: She’s sitting right here. Getting ready to do homework.
Jake: Why don’t you grab Coop and come join us?
Surprise unraveled through me, and I glanced up as Jake typed. “This is…”
“Yep, it’s my date,” he said. “But you’re relaxing right now, and I want to see you keep relaxing, and we didn’t get to hang out last night like we all wanted. So homework? Hang out? Arch doesn’t mind, do you?”
“Nope, and there’s still time for you two to go out later if you want—we can finish that list while we wait for Bubba and Coop, then we’ll be all earnest and shit and do our homework. Frankie can rap us with a ruler if we get out of line.”
“That’s hot,” Jake commented, and I groaned.
They both grinned as Jake’s phone buzzed.
Bubba: On our way.
“See,” Jake said before he closed the message and pulled me back against him so I could face Archie again, and Archie tugged my feet into his lap. “Let’s finish that dating list. Weird museums are on the to be decided list. What’s next?”
Ian: See you soon.
Biting back a smile, I switched screens. Jake inviting them to come over and then planning to stay here was exceptionally sweet. I hadn’t enjoyed seeing them the night before—so much had been going on, and I missed them. I’d made up with Archie. Coop and I were in an okay place, but we could be better. Jake and I were apparently okay, or at least we were trying. But Ian deserved better than he’d gotten from me, and he’d been great the night before in the end, and he’d taken me home and hadn’t put any pressure on me.
Archie squeezed my foot, dragging my attention back to the present. “Sorry—um…next is bowling.”
“Not it,” they said in unison, and I laughed.
“What’s wrong with bowling?”
“Not a damn thing, get Bubba to take you. He likes it,” Archie said.
“I don’t mind it, but we’re all pretty competitive, or are you not remembering ninth grade? Josh Traynor’s birthday party at the bowling alley?” Jake reminded me, and I frowned.
“Did I go to Josh’s birthday party?”
“No,” Archie said suddenly. “You didn’
t. You had the flu.”
“Oh shit. That’s right.” Jake snapped his fingers. “You were sick, you had a fever or something, and we sent cake home with Coop for you, but he said you couldn’t eat it.”
I had literally no memory of that. But I’d had like Type A flu or some crap and I’d been dead to the world for a week. The guys had all gotten my homework for me, and when I started to feel better, they went out of their way to help me get caught up.
“So you guys got competitive at the party over bowling?”
“Yeah.” They sounded like a pair of guilty kids.
“What did you do?”
“Maybe we save that embarrassing bit of our history for another day,” Archie suggested. “Get Bubba to take you to bowling. You’ll have fun. What’s next?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Jake whispered in my ear, ignoring Archie’s glare. “Archie just acted like a dick and doesn’t like to be reminded of how much of a dick he was.”
“Bite me, Jake,” Archie snorted, then tipped his bottle up for a drink and motioned to my phone.
Curious, I squirmed a little, and Jake picked me up and sat me on his lap more properly, and I squeaked. But—it was more comfortable. Clearing my throat, I read off, “Have a picnic in the park.” Which we had all actually done.
“Check,” they answered, and I grinned wider.
“Play mini-golf.”
Archie just stared at me, and the corners of his mouth began to twitch, and I cracked up.
“You guys definitely have that covered. How many weekends did you go?” Jake asked.
“A lot.” Archie emphasized. “But Frankie likes it, so that can go back on the list.”
“So can video games,” I reminded him, and he saluted me. “Board game night.”
“Cards Against Humanity,” Jake said. “That counts.”
“Agreed.”
“Roller rink?” I raised my brows.
“Nope,” Archie said, shaking his head. “They play disco music.”
Jake just laughed.
“The last one is a nature hike.”
“I’ll take you on one,” Jake offered. “I like hiking.”
I smiled. “Me, too.” I had done a lot of these things. Not as dates specifically, but with the guys.
“There has to be more lists,” Archie said. “So—when the guys get here, we all write down date ideas on individual pieces of paper, we put them all in a bowl, and then Frankie gets to pick one each week, and one of us has to do it if not all of us until we empty the bowl.”
Oh.
I liked that idea.
“Weird,” Jake said. “But doable. Just have to time it when Frankie’s not working, and it doesn’t interrupt someone else’s date.”
“You guys are a little crazy,” I told them.
“About you,” Archie said, then winked. “Okay, I like this list better…” He showed us his phone. “Parties, movies, dinner, dancing…”
I grinned. “Check. Check. Check and…very soon, check.”
“There’s also beach, stargazing, bungee jumping…”
“Bungee jumping?” I straightened a little. That was on the dangerous side.
“I wouldn’t mind doing that,” Jake admitted. “Or going skydiving.”
“I’ve never even been on a plane, and you want to jump out of one?” I twisted to look at Jake, and he grinned.
“Sure, it’ll be fun.”
“We can do it,” Archie said. “We can do all of it. You game?”
To do crazy stunts? “I think we should do homework now.” Because the butterflies in my stomach suddenly had butterflies.
Jake chuckled. “We’ll keep it on the maybe list.” His phone buzzed, and so did mine and Archie’s.
“They’re here,” Archie said. “C’mon, Jake, let’s go get your stuff. Frankie, go grab yours from my room, and everyone back here for a meeting of the study buddies, and no one gets to snuggle Frankie until homework is done.”
Groaning, Jake flopped back. “That’s a crappy plan, I’d much rather snuggle Frankie.”
“Then get done with your homework first,” Archie said with a smirk. The bet was funny, even I laughed. It wasn’t long before they were all back, and the unease and distress of the day faded even more.
I still had no idea what I was going to do about my mom, or even how we were all going to make this work, but they were all here for me. When Ian and I sat shoulder to shoulder while working on calculus, or Coop and I puppy piled over the Lit assignment, or Archie pulled me over to sit with him on government, or Jake and I took turns quizzing each other on European History—I wasn’t alone.
Not even a little bit.
My best friends were right there, and for once, I didn’t want to examine that too closely. I just let them be there for me.
And I did my damnedest to be there for them.
Chapter Nine
Red light
“Pizza?” Coop suggested a little before seven. I was finishing up the last couple of paragraphs of a paper for French.
“Sounds good,” Ian said, stretched out behind me on the sofa. He’d finished his homework first, but I needed to type on my laptop so he’d settled there while I wrote.
“I could eat,” Archie groaned. The burgers and fries we’d gotten earlier had all been consumed over the course of the study session. Never get between teen boys and calories, even when they were cold.
“Jake?” Coop asked, but instead of answering, Jake bumped my foot.
“One sec,” I said, holding up a finger before typing in my last couple of thoughts. At least writing in French had gotten dramatically easier the last year or so. I could speak it with a fair amount of accuracy, but reading it had been harder until sometime in junior year, and it clicked over in my brain. As I finished the last period and hit save, I glanced up. “What?”
Chuckling, Jake said, “The guys want pizza. Do you want to stay here and eat, or ditch and go do something else?”
The weight of three other stares pressed in around me, but I studied Jake. The last couple of hours had actually been great. I’d focused on the work and not on anything else. “What do you want to do?”
“Take you out,” he said easily.
Archie snorted. “Easy answer there.”
“Okay,” Coop said slowly, pulling my attention. “But I still want pizza.”
It took a few minutes to get everything packed away, and they were all helping, which actually made it take longer. Then Coop tugged me in for a hug, and I closed my eyes as I held him tight. He kept his voice low as he murmured, “Call if you need me okay? I’m right there.”
“I will,” I promised. Then he let me go, and Ian held out his hand, and I walked right into his hug. “Thank you,” I told him. “For taking me home last night and for not pushing.”
“Always here for you. We still on for Tuesday?”
A laugh escaped. It was a little easier. The sense of doom and gloom wasn’t quite so pervasive. It couldn’t choke me out. “Yep,” I said. “Applications open next week.” We had to get his audition tape made.
He let me go with smile, and then Archie wrapped his arms around me from the back, and my whole body seemed to sigh. I could really get used to all this hugging. “Coffee order still the same for the morning?”
“Yes please, though have them throw two extra shots of espresso in it?” After the last couple of days, I really didn’t know how I’d sleep tonight.
“You got it,” he pressed a kiss right behind my ear. Then he held my backpack out to Jake who gripped it easily.
Following Jake to the door, it was kind of weird to leave the other guys, I glanced back to find them all watching me go. “We’re okay,” I said slowly, hand on the doorframe. “Right?”
“We’re fine,” Ian assured me.
“Yep,” Coop said.
“Not a problem here, babe,” Archie tacked on. “Just jealous you’re leaving with Jake.”
Coop and Ian exhaled an almost simulta
neous, “yeah.” But Ian added, “We’ll see you tomorrow—but answer your texts, okay? Don’t vanish down another rabbit hole.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Jake linked his hand with, mine and then we were heading out. It occurred to me as we descended the steps that we might run into Archie’s dad, but Jeremy hadn’t warned us that he was home, so I kept my fingers crossed all the way out to Jake’s yellow SUV.
Inside, he started the engine and glanced at me. “Trust me?”
“That’s not a leading question at all.”
He grinned. “That wasn’t an answer to the question.”
“True.” Did I trust him? I wanted to. I really wanted to trust all of them. “Yes.”
“Thank you,” he said, then reached over to squeeze my knee once before he curved to glance back as he reversed to turn the SUV around. “You wanna talk about what happened that you needed Archie to come get you? It’s not like you to not just take your car and go.”
It wasn’t. Since I’d gotten the car, I’d craved my independence. Spring semester, sophomore year. It had been awesome to be able to drive to school. Until then, the guys—sans Coop—had been giving us rides. Then I could take Coop.
“Mom told me about Mr. Standish,” I admitted. “It was—uncomfortable and weird. We kind of fought. I was just upset. I know you want to ask a lot of questions, but… I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. At least not right now.” I was kind of talked out. Especially the whole moving idea.
“No problem,” Jake said. “You need to talk about it to someone. You have too much stuff you sit and stew over.”
The characteristic bluntness was more of a comfort than I cared to admit. “I talked to Archie.”
His knuckles went white on the steering wheel, and I turned my attention back to the passenger window. We were heading toward the highway. Not my place. Not Jake’s.
After a long pause, Jake said, “Okay. I’m glad you talked to someone.”
“Do you want to talk about why you thought seeing Maria would get her to talk Sharon into taking the pictures down?”
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